Hellcat Misery: YouTuber’s Brand-new Hemi Motor Bursts Into Flames
Police have ruled out arson, but the cause of this Challenger engine bay fire is pending.
If you are an active YouTube viewer who follows channels that focus on high performance Dodge productions, you may already be familiar with the FamilyCruisin Network. The host of the channel is named Paul and while he has a Ram 1500 Rebel and a Focus ST, the star of his lineup is his Plum Crazy 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Or, at least it was the star of the channel, as last week, the car burst into the flames and burned beyond repair before firefighters could arrive to save the supercharged Dodge.
FamilyCruisin Hellcat
The Plum Crazy Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat of the FamilyCruisin channel has become one of the best-known online for some of the unique antics. In some videos, Paul pretends to be an Uber driver, during which time he gives passengers the ride of a lifetime. In other videos, the purple muscle car dukes it out with some other high performance machines and as we see in the video above, Paul has quite a bit of footage of his little girl enjoying a fast-paced ride in dad’s Mopar. Of course, we can’t forget the video where he braves a heavy snowstorm with drag radials.
Unfortunately, a few weeks back, Paul was giving someone a ride in his modified Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat when the car started running badly. Although he was driving the car gently when things went wrong, it turned out that his Hellcat Hemi blew a big hole in the side of the engine block. After much discussion with the dealership and the folks from FCA, Paul arranged to have a new engine installed at the dealerships, but after weeks of waiting, he got his Hellcat Challenger back last week.
He was excited, but that excitement quickly changed to concern and in the long run, we learn that Paul was right to be concerned.
Problems Grow
When Paul first got his Hellcat Challenger back from the dealership with the new engine, he didn’t think that it was running correctly. In speaking with some experts in Hellcat performance, it was believed that his new engine had to “learn” to work with the custom engine tune, so he took the car out for a gentle test drive to see if the problems worked out.
Instead, as he drove the car for a few miles, it ran progressively worse, until the Dodge Challenger wouldn’t accelerate at all. He pulled off of the road and noticed the smell of gasoline fumes. He popped the hood to check things out and when he lifted the hood, the engine bay exploded into flames. He grabbed his phone from the car and ran to a safe distance, where he called the fire department for help.
He filmed and watched as his car cracked and popped, with a series of small explosions increasing the intensity of the blaze. The firemen arrived and put the fire out, but it was too late. Paul’s Hellcat Challenger was a total loss.
Investigation
We spoke with Paul earlier today and found that while they still don’t have any answers as to what caused the fire, the police investigation ruled out arson. In other words, Paul didn’t set his car on fire or do anything to make the car burn. At this point, the insurance company is trying to figure out what caused the fire and who is to blame, but for now, Paul’s car is dead and the police have confirmed that it was not intentionally burned.
The good news here is that Paul was alone in the car when the fire began, so he was able to get away safely and no else was at risk. Crank up your speakers to experience the miserable situation right along with Paul, as he watches his beautiful Mopar muscle car meet its demise. You may need a tissue to sit through this, as it is pretty awful to see this gorgeous Challenger burnout.
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